Dirk Nowitzki was held to 11 points on 4-of-14 shooting Sunday by the Spurs in Game 1, but if previous postseasons are any indication, expect Dallas' future Hall of Famer to bounce back.

Dirk Nowitzki was held to 11 points on 4-of-14 shooting Sunday by...

SAN ANTONIO — He missed 10 shots, including one late at the rim without much resistance.

His teammates made mistakes, too, but none of it mattered. He would always feel he let one get away, and he went to the podium afterward visibly frustrated.

That was Tim Duncan 10 months ago in Miami. That was also Dirk Nowitzki on Sunday.

And so those who think the Mavericks missed their one chance, that Nowitzki is too old to carry the Mavericks as he once did, consider what happened the next time Duncan played a playoff game.

Aging, tall men who are destined for Springfield have a way of recovering.

Had you been there in Miami, and had you seen Duncan the last time he was on a podium before Sunday, you would have thought he would never be the same.

He'd been brilliant at times in that Game 7. His missed bunny in the final minute was a fluke; Duncan led the Spurs in scoring then, too.

Still, his championship was gone, as well as what was perceived as his last chance at one. Afterward, he slumped in front of the media, seemingly crying without tears.

Duncan found a way back, and he put together a remarkable season for someone who turns 38 this week. But there he was on Easter, in his first postseason game since Miami, facing a mix nearly as horrific as a June night in Florida:

A banged knee, Joey Crawford, a few sputtering teammates and a 10-point deficit.

What followed doesn't make up for the 2013 Finals, but it's a step in that direction. As the soreness in his knee went away, Duncan did what Rick Carlisle's strategy suggested he do. He scored.

In Game 7 against Miami, Duncan ended with 24 points. Sunday, he had 27. And while he took 20 shots or more in only four games in the regular season this year, the results are undeniable: He averaged 26 points, and the Spurs went 3-1.

There was a time in this rivalry when Nowitzki took 20 shots just to warm up. He was at his peak in the 2006 playoffs against the Spurs, when the Duncan-Crawford issues began to show. Nowitzki averaged over 27 points a game then and, reminiscing last week with ESPN, he said Dallas' win in Game 7 then “is about as sweet as it gets for me.”

Sunday presented the sour. Slowing the Spurs' 3-point shooters while dictating the pace, the Mavericks were on the cusp of an upset.

With about 10 minutes left, Nowitzki did his trademark one-legged, fading jumper over Boris Diaw for the lead. A few minutes later, Devin Harris found Nowitzki for another score, and the Mavericks were on their way to building their 10-point lead.

Nowitzki would later say the Spurs were “living” with other Mavericks shooting. He also talked about how the Spurs “force you to do a 'B' move.”

All of that is true, as is this: Tiago Splitter might be the best counter for Nowitzki the Spurs have ever had.

But it's also true the Nowitzki of 2006, and the one who won a title in 2011, would have scored in the final 9:26 of a tight playoff game.

He would have also taken more than 14 shots over 42 minutes. And the easy, Duncan-like look he had with the score tied? He would have made that as a 12-year-old kid in Germany.

The missed opportunity was real. The Mavericks had caught the Spurs flat, and they had let it get away. So how can Nowitzki get over the sensation that this was “the one you were supposed to get?”

“I'm not sure,” Nowitzki said. “We got two days to sit on it and watch the film, make some minor adjustments, and let it all rip in Game 2.”

This wasn't a Finals-level disappointment. A first-round opener doesn't compare.

But when it comes to recovery, and letting things “rip,” there are some players who are better at it than others.